This invention relates generally to a releasable latch assembly, and more particularly to such an assembly for use in latching together ends of a tobacco container side wall to easily facilitate opening and reclosing of the container for inspection and to further render the container collapsible.
As discussed in a related and commonly owned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 660,224, filed Feb. 23, 1976, prior art containers designed for exporting leaf tobacco are made of wooden stays assembled together in flat mats of a sufficient number to form a container of a predetermined size. The problems with such container constructions prevail in that, when inspecting the tobacco just prior to final shipment thereof for export, an opening is normally made in one of the container stays thereby requiring repair of the opening which is not only time consuming but adds to the cost of labor and materials. Moreover, the manufacturer of these prior art containers requires skilled labor which is oftentimes unavailable and quite costly.
As further discussed in the aforementioned related application, leaf tobacco containers designed for domestic use are similarly designed as those for export except that the domestic use containers are of smaller size and are made collapsible and reuseable. Also, removable hinge pins of a standard hinge assembly are provided for the smaller containers so as to permit disassembly of the hinge pins for collapse of the container. However, these hinge pins are easily lost and the hinge assemblies are bulky and costly thereby adding to the cost of manufacture of the domestic use containers. And, the hinge pins are sometimes weakened throughout extended use because of their particular design.
The present invention represents another approach taken, as compared to the invention under the aforementioned application, in solving the noted problems of the prior art.